Disclaimer: I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. They belong to Nickelodeon and DreamWorks. Unless, of course, I explicitly say that I made up the character or fleshed out what was merely mentioned.

Winds of Change

By West189

Chapter 1: A Place Called Home

"Where should I start?" Private wondered aloud. "It's not as if there was a definite beginning to everything…" He glanced around at the others. "We may as well get comfortable. It's a long story, and I doubt that we'll be getting sleep any time soon." Kowalski looked slightly horrified at that, Rico sat down, and Skipper leaned against the wall to Private's left before crossing his arms and nodding for the younger to continue.

Private took in a deep breath before slowly releasing. "I suppose that the story really began on July 16… My 20th birthday." He looked around for a moment until his eyes finally landed on the phone in his hand. "There was nothing particularly special about that morning; although, in hindsight, I should have known something was wrong when the neighbor's dog didn't bark at me after I fed it…"

*Start Flashback*

Private quickly unlocked the door. He had to feed his neighbor's dog, Floof, since the owner was going to be London visiting her sick niece until the following Thursday. Fortunately, this was the last day he was supposed to be looking after the pup. Private didn't particularly enjoy this task, but his neighbor was an old lady who always asked how he was doing, which meant he felt obliged to help out if necessary.

Upon entering the apartment, he noticed nothing unusual, except that Floof wasn't barking even though he usually did as he hid if someone unfamiliar came over. Dismissing this, Private walked in and closed the door behind him. He then walked into the kitchen, picked up the dog's water bowl and proceeded to rinse it out and fill it with fresh water before placing it back onto the ground. Next Private took the dog food out of the cupboard and filled the food bowl. Once this task was done, he replaced the dog food. The continued lack of the dog still nagged at him, but he once again shrugged it off and finally left.

Unbeknownst to Private, Floof was resting softly on his owner's bed, a dark green tranquilizer dart still embedded in the pup's back.

*Interrupt Flashback*

"I still don't know how you snuck into a secure apartment filled with people at all hours and managed to tranquilize a large puppy, all without getting caught by anyone!" Private's exclamation brought smirks to his friends' faces.

"That, Private, is classified information. Ask me again when you're a Corporal." Skipper replied nonchalantly. "Besides, if you knew, you wouldn't have to learn on the job like the rest of us did."

"I'm still not sure if we executed that properly. I don't think we were supposed to leave the tranquilizer dart behind…" Kowalski pulled out his clipboard and flipped towards the last few pieces of paper. His eyebrows furrowed as he contemplated what it said.

"'ell?" Rico asked eagerly. "'e di'n't muss up! Di' 'e?" Rico's head tilted as he asked the second question, waiting for the answer.

"It appears," said Kowalski, "that I need to work on my handwriting. I can't read anything I wrote." At hearing this, Rico and Skipper face-palmed, and Kowalski muttered a soft apology.

"Well, back to the story…" Private murmured. "After I left my neighbor's flat, I returned to my own, only to see an eviction notice taped to the front."

*Returning to Flashback*

Private stared at his door in disbelief. There, right in front of him, was an eviction notice, giving him an hour to get all of his stuff out. He didn't care about the limited time period; he kept his most important possessions in a small bag that he carried with him wherever he went. What worried him was the fact that he had paid his rent for three weeks earlier that day. This was the third time in four months that this had happened. The first time had been because of a seizure by eminent domain. The second was because the owner of the flat had suddenly decided to sell. Private wasn't planning on sticking around to find out what was going on this time.

He quickly ran unlocked his flat and ran into it. He headed straight to the bathroom closet. Once he got there, Private threw the door open and quickly grabbed his always ready bug-out bag and quickly left the flat. The only times he stopped on the way out of the building were to give his neighbor's key to the next volunteer and to return his own key to the land lord.

Upon exiting the building, Private slowed to a walk, so he could think about his situation. He had recently quit his job as a factory worker. After the weeks of extensive travelling in the wilderness, he had thought settling down would be good for him, but he'd begun to miss sleeping with the stars overhead. No one was surprised when Private turned in his two weeks' notice.

He'd always been a bit of a nomad, but every once in a while, he did try to settle down. Eventually, though, he'd leave. He had no ties to bind him anywhere, and as much as he desperately wanted one, he had no home, either. As a child, his family was always moving from place to place, never staying anywhere for more than a few weeks. After leaving his family on his 17th birthday, this behavior was the one thing he knew how to do with any success. When he'd heard about the death of his parents two weeks later, he couldn't even think of where they would have wanted to be buried. That was really what caused him to continue to travel, despite his original intentions of finding a home.

"Maybe I will… Someday." Private's voice was soft and sad. The lyrics of an American song he'd heard by chance ran through his head. Someday I'll go where there ain't no rain or snow and dream of a place called home… The young Briton sighed. I don't care if there's snow and rain. I just want to stop running. This last thought caused him to pause. Shaking his head slightly, he had to admit that he really was running, but from what, he didn't know.

Looking up, he noticed he had made it to the last train station left in the town. It was an old, worn-down building with once red bricks turned to grey and concrete steps crumbling to nothing. The image did nothing to boost his low spirits. Somehow the station was still running, despite its outward appearance. Climbing the steps, he took care to care not to put too much weight on one foot at any time. He entered the building, and slowly approached the ticket counter.

The man behind it was tall, and almost had to crane his neck to look at Private who was quite short for a male his age. "Where are you headed?" asked the man, but something about him caught Private off guard.

"You're American!" he exclaimed in shock. "What's an American doing in a small English town such as this?" He couldn't help his excitement. He'd never been outside the United Kingdom, and even then, the furthest from England he'd ever been was when his parents took him to visit his uncle in Cardiff, Wales.

The other scoffed at Private. "I happen to be Polish. I acquired this accent from years of living in the United States of America. As for what I'm doing here? I'm selling train tickets. Now, I'll ask again. Where are you headed?" He said all of this in a slightly superior way, as if Private was beneath him. He also stared right at the younger, and the piercing glare from the Pole's light blue eyes caused him to reconsider taking the train.

"Ummm… I was just going to take a train to Halifax, but I think I'll just ask a friend for a lift…" Private had begun to back away slowly, and once he'd completed his sentence, he swiftly turned around and tried to run. He did not expect to crash into a large, well-built man, and he ended up on the ground, staring up at the one who caused his fall.

"Now, where maght ya'll be goin' in such a rush?" He asked in an American Southern accent, as he slowly lifted Private by his collar until the Briton's legs were dangling, and he was at eye-level with the American. "Nowhere, right?" the tall man asked quietly. All Private could do was nod vigorously in agreement. "Good." He grinned. His dark grey eye surveyed the captive. "Skippa' was right. 'Don' judge bah appearances.' He said. I neva' woulda' expected such a cute gal—"

"I'm a bloke, you dolt!" Private interrupted with a cry of indignation. His outburst seemed to give him the courage to stop struggling against the other's grip.

"I advise you to stop struggling. Johnson, here, enjoys making prisoners end their opposition." Private recognized the voice of the ticket seller. "Also, hold still." The voice was getting closer, and Private had stopped struggling. As soon as he did so, however, he felt a pinch in the back of his neck, and he slumped over unconscious.

*End Flashback*

"That's all I know for this part. Does anyone else want to take over now? I really would like to know what happens next!" Private looked hopefully at Kowalski, who sighed and removed his glasses to clean them on his shirt.

He didn't speak until he'd replaced them onto his face. "I can see that I don't have a choice here."

"Nuh-uh! Teh stoh-ee!" Rico was excited. He'd only known his own part to play in all of this. He couldn't wait to hear the story in its entirety, but first… "Snack break!" After exclaiming this, he jumped up, and walked over to one of the tables that still had some food left from when their guests were there. He quickly grabbed some cake for himself and got a piece of pie for Private.

"Thanks, Rico! I hadn't even realized there was any food! Go ahead with your story, Kowalski. We can keep our food noises to a minimum, I swear!" Private glanced eagerly at his pie, then up to Kowalski.

"That sounds like a plan to me. Kowalski, you can eat after sharing your bit of information, and the rest of us can chow down!" Skipper said this as he moved to get himself some nachos.

"Very well. If everyone is set to eat without me, I'll go ahead with my part." Kowalski didn't really mind. He'd already eaten his fill when the guests were present, and he didn't want to imbalance his eating schedule. "After, knocking you out, Private, I had the pleasure of watching and documenting your inert form while Johnson called for the others…"

*Kowalski's Flashback*

This makes no sense, Kowalski thought. Why would we be sent to catch a spy from another country, especially when we don't even know who the spy is… I expect things will become clear with time, but I worry about what will happen in the meantime. I better start gathering the kid's information.

Kowalski pulled out his clipboard and made careful notes instead of his usual sloppy ones. Skipper would not take it well, if he had to get this data from the boy himself. He spoke quietly to himself as he worked. "The subject appears to be around 18 years of age, but I assume that he is older than he looks. Height: 5.3 feet. Weight: Approximately 115 lbs. Hair color: Black. Eye Color:…" Kowalski paused before slowly leaning over to open the boy's eyes. He did so carefully; unsure of what he had seen when he'd stared at him. "E-eye Color: Ice Blue."

He was uneasy. An uncommon and mostly unnatural eye color often meant that the owner of those eyes was most likely a meta-human of some sort. That explained why they were in a foreign country, but that still didn't explain why they were after this spy in particular. Skipper was refusing to let out any information, which was odd since Skipper usually asked Kowalski's opinion before sending the lot of them out on a mission. He was, after all, the team's strategist, yet he had received no indication of anything wrong before the sudden announcement that they were going to England to pursue a rogue spy.

Judging from what he'd seen over the last few months, this short Briton wasn't spy material; although, if he really was a meta-human, he may have some type of super power that hid his doings from any curious eyes. There was no way of knowing what it was without a specific test or seeing the super power in action. Kowalski himself was a meta, albeit his power wasn't physical. The eye color difference was usually only present in those with powers that could physically do something to the surrounding environment.

Rico was a good example. His eyes were a bright, almost glowing, blue-green, and he was capable of creating and controlling fire. He also had a pocket dimension inside of his stomach, allowing him to store anything he wanted by simply swallowing it. Kowalski was still unsure of how Rico fit everything down his throat.

"Kuhwalski, ya'll done with yur documentash'n? Skippa' says we gotta get gone before the real ticket salesman wakes up!" Johnson's loud voice shook him out of his reverie. The other didn't give Kowalski a chance to reply before he swung the young lad onto his shoulder and started moving to the hologram of the stationary train.

Kowalski quickly turned the image off, and the two jumped onto their hidden vehicle. He checked all the systems before turning the ignition on and hitting the accelerator. Johnson plopped the boy down and took a seat up front next to Kowalski. The vehicle wasn't a fancy machine. The format was very similar to what you would expect in a boat you'd drive on the lake. The main difference was the driving area being further in the front with a lounging area in the back. Another was the fact that Kowalski's invention hovered and had a flat bottom.

"Are you sure you should be up here with me and not watching the kid?" Kowalski asked. "You didn't even tie him up!" The scientist was watching what was happening in a rear-view mirror.

"Why would Ah need tah? Like ya'll said, he's a kid. It's not like there's anywhere for him tah run tah! Besides, we've got his bag a' stuff!" Johnson leaned back in his chair and placed his feet up on the dashboard. "What's more, we're goin' 30 miles pah hour over a forest. It'd be suahcide tah jump outta here!"

"Really?" Kowalski replied. "Why don't you take a look at the kid, right now?"

"Fine! Ah will!" Pause. "Sh*t! Why didn't you say nothing?" Johnson shouted at Kowalski furiously, for what Johnson saw when he turned around was the kid squatting on the edge of the vehicle looking down. And when the kid saw Johnson looking at him, he gave a big grin and a cheeky wave before jumping out of sight.

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed my story! I have decided that, until further notice, I am continuing with the story! This does not mean, however, that you should stop reviewing. Reviews are my bread and butter. They keep me motivated!

~West189